[center][img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjExNi5mZmQ3MWEuVTFCRlJVUlouMAAA/sugar-death-2.italic.png[/img][/center][hr][b][i]09:10 PM
Suicide Slums, Metropolis[/i][/b]
[hr]
She could hear the screams from her apartment. Loud and shrill, about a block away, panicked cries for help going without answer no matter how loud their owner yelled. Mia clenched her fists as she moved to don her costume. She expected this from Star City, or Gotham – cries for help going unheeded, those in trouble ignored – but from Metropolis? The City of Tomorrow? No. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not in Superman’s city.

But Superman was dead. Dead, along with the creature that killed him. And the criminals of Metropolis, the scumbags that usually hid in the shadows in fear of facing the Man of Steel, thought that that presented them an opportunity, an opportunity to claim the streets as their own. But they weren’t going to go unopposed. Not for as long as Speedy was in town.

Bow in hand, quiver strapped to her back, Mia pushed open her apartment’s window; one of two in the entire space. With it open, the screams sounded even louder, more desperate. Without hesitation, Mia leapt out of her fourth-floor accommodation, landing on the neighbouring building’s fire escape. Climbing it up onto the roof, she spared herself a quick glance over the Slums, taking in its hopelessness, its unbridled chaos. It was a far cry from the Metropolis everyone knew. Poverty, crime and corruption were the dominant powers in this neighbourhood, an air of misery ever present in its grime-covered streets. Ramshackle storefronts and apartment complexes mingled with shady pubs and nightclubs, brothels and streetwalkers as abundant as strays. It was like Metropolis’ own private Gotham. A hell within heaven. A paradise lost.

Mia ran, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, nearing the source of the screams with every step. This wasn’t her first time in costume without Oliver or Connor. She’d been in the Slums for nearly a week now, and she’d had her fair share of solo patrols in Star City. But that didn’t stop it from feeling any less weird. It didn’t stop her from feeling any less out of place.   

Her estimation was right. She found the screamer one block east of her apartment, hounded by three men, large and ugly, backed into the corner of a dead-end alley. They were abusing the woman, violently tugging her between each other, each desperate to have a go, laughing at her attempts to escape. 

Mia couldn’t help the growl that formed in her throat. Those men reminded her of her father. Chauvinistic, sick, perverted pigs, seeking no one’s pleasure but their own. She couldn’t stand for that. With a well-aimed shot, she launched an arrow through the furthest man’s hand, pinning it to the wall behind him. She jumped down from her perch on the fire escape as he let loose a shriek of pain, a higher pitch than his victim’s; despite herself, Mia couldn’t help a small smirk. The other two men turned to face her, shock and confusion fighting for control on their faces, before the latter won out, settling comfortably on their features. Behind them, the woman backed up further into the corner, curling into a ball.

“The hell are you?” asked one of the two, deftly ignoring the third’s agonised cries. He was bulky, and wide, his jaw hard-set. Mia called him Burly. 

“Speedy,” she said, nocking another arrow.

The second man, also of significant bulk – Blocky – spoke up. “Who?”

“Yeah. You ain’t no Supergirl,” added Burly.

“It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is that you idiots leave this woman alone.”

“H-hang on,” began the third man, between gasps of pain, “I-I recognise her. Sh-she’s the G-Green Arrow’s sidekick.”

Mia flushed red as Burly and Blocky erupted into a fit of laughter. 

“The Green Arrow’s sidekick? They sent [i]that[/i] klutz’s side-chick to replace [i]Supes?’[/i] exclaimed Burly, clutching his stomach. Tears were rolling down his face.

“What the hell were they thinking?!” added Blocky, before exploding into laughter once more.

Mia glowered, aiming her bow at Burly's leg. She was going to enjoy this.